Strawberry Lemonade Bars

Oh My Goodness, I couldn’t believe how awesome these were!!!

We had a very hot fourth of July party and hr away and these didn’t hold very well in the heat on the drive over, but after putting them in the fridge they hardened back up and were scrumptious!! Everyone loved them!

These bars were of course found on Pinterest (I wish I could say I came up with this myself but I didn’t!) and Pinterest didn’t let me down! You can find the website here, from K&K Test Kitchen.

Strawberry Lemonade Bars

Crust
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

Filling
1 cup fresh lemon juice
2-3 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup pureed strawberries (about 3/4 cup berries)
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.

Begin by making the crust.  In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until smooth and fluffy. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly. Pour into prepared pan and press into an even layer. Bake for about 17 minutes, until set at the edges.

While the crust bakes, prepare the filling.  In the bowl of a food processor, combine lemon juice, lemon zest, strawberry puree, sugar and eggs and process until smooth. Add in flour, baking powder and salt, then pulse until smooth.

Gently pour the filling over the hot crust when it has finished baking. Return pan to oven and bake for 23-26 minutes, until the filling is set (There will be a light colored “crust” on top from the sugar in the custard – nothing to worry about).

Sprinkle the bars with some powdered sugar.  Cool completely before slicing and use a damp knife to ensure clean slices.  Store bars in the refrigerator, especially on a hot day.  Makes 24 bars.

Taco Meatloaf Cupcakes

So trying to figure out what to make for dinner one day, I was going back and forth between many things, taco’s, meatloaf, or stuffed zucchini, when I decided on stuffed zucchini!

Of course I decide on this dish when 1. we don’t have any zucchini and 2. there is a torrential down pour rain storm happening!!! Whatever, I took my pregnant butt to Stop & Shop in this rain storm just to walk out of there empty handed…they had NO ZUCCHINI!!! I was not a happy camper! I mean I normally don’t shop at Stop & Shop but it was the closest to my house in this rain storm so I figured why not…HUGE MISTAKE! There was no way I was going to try another store…so I went home deciding I would figure something out when I got there!

Since I couldn’t decide between taco’s or meatloaf, I decided to make a taco meatloaf! Man that sounded good! Then I remembered how long it takes to make meatloaf and I said no way, it was already late and I was hungry! Then I remembered seeing taco cupcakes on Pinterest forever ago so I figured that was perfect…perfect size and perfect amount of time, so here it is! I was totally impressed with how these came out and I hope you enjoy!

Taco Meatloaf Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1/2 C bread crumbs

1/2 C Salsa

1 Cup shredded mexican (or taco) blend cheese

1 packet taco seasoning

1 Egg

1/2 C chopped onion

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and spray the inside of the muffin tins (I used the large muffin tin that makes 6 muffins) with Pam
• In a large bowl, using your hands (YES YOU CAN GET THEM DIRTY!!!)  mix all the ingredients together until well blended
• Then scoop the meat into the muffin holes, filling to the top
• Bake for about 30-35min until the top is browned and the cheese is bubbly
• Pop them out and devour!!

These were quick, easy and so delicious!! Try it for dinner this week, I’m sure you will love it!!

Chocolate Dipped S’more Pretzels

So while on vacation a couple weeks ago, we made those striped cookie s’mores and we made these pretzel s’mores, that were equally as good…clearly it was a s’mores addicted vacation!!!! These were a little more messy to put together but they were such an awesome snack!!!

We found this great idea here and made them like this:

1 bag of pretzels

1 bag of big Marshmallows

1 package of 6 Hershey bars

2 bags of semi sweet chocolate chips

1. First we cut the marshmallows in half and stuck them in the microwave for about 30 sec (if you have a window just watch until you see them get puffy and be the judge of the best time limit), until they got really soft.

2. While the marshmallows are cooking we placed two chocolate pieces on a pretzel

3. When the marshmallows are done, I used a knife to transport the marshmallow to the pretzel with the chocolate then used another pretzel to scrap the marshmallow off the knife and press the pretzel sandwich into a s’more.

4. Then while those cool a little, melt a bag of chocolate chips in the Microwave for about 3 minutes, stirring a couple times

5. When the chocolate is all melted, dip (or coat) the s’more pretzel into the chocolate and place it back on the plate and place them in the freezer for a little bit to harden the chocolate.

6. Once the chocolate has hardened, place them in a zip loc bag and store them in the fridge to keep the chocolate from melting.

**If you have left over ingredients which you most likely will, go ahead and make some chocolate covered marshmallows or pretzels…these were also made and enjoyed on vacation.

Enjoy!!

Are you my Baby Fairy??

So we have been blessed with a baby fairy…we have no idea who it is!!! This is one of the sweetest things and we truly can’t figure out who is doing it and it is kinda driving me crazy hahaha

Well it all started last week! Last Wed I went home after work and there is this shiny red gift bag hanging on my door and all it says is love the baby fairy…so I look in side and this is what I find:

These really cool spoons that change to white when it is too hot!!! So thoughtful and really neat!

Then this past Tuesday Aaron got home and called me saying that the baby fairy stopped by again today! I was like are you serious! Who could it be?!? This is what we got:

This adorable little monkey that sings!!! It is too fricken cute and we love it!

I would never have thought someone would do something like this for us, we are very appreciative and thankful for all that you are doing! It is really cute and very thoughtful of you!

Dear Baby Fairy: Whomever you are, we are very blessed to have someone so special in our lives, whether you are family, a close friend, or someone not so close, this means a lot to us, that you think so highly of us to want to do something so clever and absolutely awesome! We aren’t big on surprises since we are two problem solvers, but this surprise is definitely very fun and so exciting! We can’t wait to welcome our little ones into this world and these little gifts just make it that much more exciting as we countdown the days!

Love the very excited parents!!!

Cucumber Salsa

This past weekend we had a family party and I decided to bring an appetizer. The problem was all the appetizers I was thinking of all contained a majority of some kind of dairy and with the insane heat we have had, I didn’t think a dairy app would work very well.

I also didn’t want to make anything hot because it would be a 45min drive and I wouldn’t want to heat it up when I get there, plus who wants to eat hot food on a hot day!!! NOT ME!

So I turned to my favorite dependable website and man did it not let me down 🙂 PINTEREST OF COURSE!!!

Looking for an app I found this Cucumber Salsa, I was definitely impressed and it was a HUGE hit!! Everyone loved it!

Of course i don’t have a picture because I suck and don’t think about it until it is all gone! I will hopefully soon get with the program and have some nice pictures to go with my posts!

The recipe was found here curteousy of Pinterest, and here is the recipe.

Crisp Cucumber Salsa
Yield 2-1/2 cups

2 cups finely chopped seeded peeled cucumber
1/2 cup finely chopped seeded tomato
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and chopped
4-1/2 tsp minced fresh cilantro
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
1/4 c reduced-fat sour cream
1-1/2 tsp lemon juice
1-1/2 tsp lime juice
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp seasoned salt
Tortilla chips

In a small bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. In another bowl, combine the sour cream, lemon juice, lime juice, cumin and seasoned salt. Pour over cucumber mixture and toss gently to coat. Serve immediately with chips

This was such a great recipe, and it was kind of refreshing, and hey it can’t be that bad for you, I mean look at all those veggies! Give it a try, you won’t regret it, especially in this heat 🙂

Striped Cookie S’mores

So last week we went on an amazing, relaxing vacation in Maine on Eagle Lake! it was nice to have a vacation where we literally did nothing, I read 4 books and enjoyed the water!

Anyway, what better way to enjoy a vacation then with books, water and S’MORES!!!!!!!!!

I absolutely love them, I don’t know how you like your marshmallows toasted but I like mine a toasty brown, if that thing catches on fire, and there is black…FORGET IT! IT IS RUINED HAHAHA, that is where I pass it on to my Husband or a friend to enjoy…I think that is GROSS!

Well one of my genius friends, who got this from another friend had a great less messy idea for s’mores, and I am always up to try something new! Well, this is what we did instead of the normal s’more with a chocolate bar and graham cracker square…

I have no pictures since it was dark, but picture this (found from google):

That’s right we used the striped cookies as our graham cracker and chocolate, it was SO PERFECT!!!

Toast those bad boys, then take two cookies, fudge side down and squish that marshmallow in between and enjoy the gooey hotness!!! These were so amazing, they were less messy and oh so much more tasty then boring old graham cracker squares!!

The summer is young and I know there will be plenty more fires and s’mores, so go ahead and give these a shot, you won’t be sorry!!!

I have another fun s’more treat that we made on vacation, that I will share with you soon, until next time, enjoy the summer (I hope it is not as hot and humid as it is here!!!)